Apathy, Aversion, or Something More? Exploring the Decline of Youth Engagement in Formal Politics

Over the past few decades, western liberal democracies have been experiencing a decline in youth participation within formal political activities, including voting, party membership, and campaigning. Current literature on the topic can be divided into two arguments, one claiming modern youth are apathetic and overly critical, and the other characterizing the broad and creative approaches to civic engagement made by youth. I argue the decline in formal political participation within western liberal democracies is the consequence of a series of social, economic, technological, and political changes that have left modern youth with different political objectives and capabilities than previous generations. Using the United Kingdom and Australia as cases for comparison, I conclude greater barriers to access formal participation opportunities, increased alignment of political goals and non-conventional forms of engagement, and a shift in conceptions of civic duty limits the opportunities youth have to access and engage with traditional political structures. The misrepresentation of youth as apathetic discourages the implementation of practices to create new engagement opportunities, threatening the democratic institutions that comprise society.